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The Girls of Central High on the Stage: or, The Play That Took The Prize
The Girls of Central High on the Stage; Or, The Play That Took The Prize
CHAPTER I – WHAT THE M. O. R.’S NEEDED
The M. O. R. house was alight from cellar to garret. It was the first big reception of the winter and followed closely the end of the first basketball trophy series and the football game between the Central High team and that of West High.
The M. O. R. was the only girls’ secret society countenanced by Franklin Sharp, the principal of Central High. Until you belonged to it you never knew what the three initials stood for; after you were lucky enough to belong, the name of the society became such a deep and dark mystery that you never dared whisper it, even to your very closest “spoon.”
Therefore, in all probability, we shall never learn just what “M. O. R.” stands for.
Among the boys of Central High, their sisters and the other girls belonging to the secret society were spoken of as “Mothers of the Republic.” But the boys were only jealous. They were entirely shut out of the doings of the M. O. R.’s, which long antedated the Girls’ Branch Athletic League; the boys never were allowed within the sacred precincts of the “House” save on the occasion of the special reception at Easter.
The house was a narrow slice of brownstone front in the middle of a block of similar dwellings, within sight of the schoolhouse, and in the Hill section of Centerport. The Hill was supposed to be very exclusive, and rents were high. And the rental of the thirteen-foot slice of brownstone had become a serious problem to the Board of Governors of the M. O. R.
Some M. O. R.’s had gone to college, many of them had married, some had moved many, many miles away from Centerport. But most of them remembered tenderly the first school society of which they had been members. The alumnae were loyal to M. O. R.
And some of the alumnae were on the present Board of Governors, and were – on this reception night – discussing seriously with the more active members of the board the financial state of the society. The owner of the house had notified them of a raise in rent for the coming year to an absolutely impossible figure. The M. O. R.’s must look for new quarters.
“If we could only interest the pupils of Central High, as a whole, members and those who are not in the M. O. R.,” sighed Mrs. Mabel Kerrick.
The presence of this widowed lady, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Centerport, and an alumna of the school, upon the Board of Governors of the M. O. R. needs an explanation that must be deferred.
“I don’t see how we can interest the boys – they only make fun,” said a very bright looking girl sitting upon the other side of the room, and beside another very bright looking girl who looked so much like her (they were dressed just alike) that unless one had seen her lips move one could never have told whether Dora Lockwood, or Dorothy Lockwood, had spoken.